Mighty Montauk Race Report

Montauk, Long Island is one of my favorite places on earth. It’s even where Rob and I got engaged 13 years ago. To race in Montauk – to take something I love as much as triathlon and do it in a place this special to me – is the best way for me to feel alive!

Last year, the Mighty Montauk was my first Olympic-distance race. What I remember most from that race was the difficult swim. When I finally dragged myself out of the water, it was as if I was re-enacting a species’ transition from water to land animal. I was also too conservative on the bike. Last year, I finished in 2:18:15 and was first in my division, 5^th woman overall. My goal for this year was to beat last year’s time and hopefully have a much better swim. I wanted top-three overall, but because you never know who your competition will be, a goal based on placing isn’t exactly the best goal to set.

I get to the transition area nice and early and notice there are no race number assignments on the bike racks. Wow, glad I got here when I did! I pick what seems to be a good spot and start laying out my gear. Later on, I can see people having trouble finding places to set up. This had to be really frustrating for them! I begin wiggling into the wetsuit when suddenly, I feel “pop!” The seam that attaches the left leg to the torso on the suit has come completely undone. It’s like someone cut a 4-inch gash right across my hip. I can’t believe it -- this is going to be like swimming with a parachute attached to my body!

I’ve learned not to panic when things like this go wrong because somehow, there are always things going wrong. You have to roll with it and make the best of the situation. Lucky for me, the lovely woman next to me hands over the last of her electrical tape and, with the help of my friend Gary and another kind stranger, we patch up the hole as best we can. I must also mention that I try to make a new friend at every race. Kristin Budden, the electrical tape carrying tri goddess, is someone I already consider a friend. She’s also a fantastic triathlete who finished second at this race. I knew I did something right when I chose to rack my bike next to hers!

At most races, I start the swim front and center, but after the wetsuit mishap, I decide to start behind the front row of women. This was a mistake because I immediately had to start swimming over and around other girls to find a decent line and I know this was a waste of energy and time. However, once I got into a rhythm, I managed a good pace and even was able to pick it up on the way back to shore. I think I could’ve done even a bit better, but I came out of the water feeling awesome and smiling, the opposite of last year. Last year’s swim time: 27:11. This year: 27:02. So, the pace was the same, but the feeling was much better. Considering the wetsuit was an issue, I’m okay with it.

Into T1, no big story here, though I did it significantly faster. As I mentioned, I was beat when I got out of the water last year, but this year, feeling good. My previous T1 time was 2:57 and this year it was 2:00. Not bad!

I felt great on the bike and passed two women along the way. Most of the time I was alone, but it wasn’t hard to maintain focus because on all the out and back turns, I could see the pro wave on its way back. I had so many positive thoughts in my head that kept me going strong. I knew I had it in me to really push the pace this time, so I went for it and smiled to myself the whole time. Last year’s bike: 1:01:06. This year: 00:58:09! Woo hoo! Sub-one hour was what I was hoping for.

Around the turn into T2. Nothing much to say other than I cut only one second off last year’s split. 1:02 down to 1:01. What was I doing in there so long? I need to get this to under a minute.

Ah, the run. I know I went out too fast and I wasn’t fully prepared for the rolling hills I had ahead of me. It felt really tough. The run course has a lot of out and back, much like the bike, so it’s easy to see how ahead (and behind) you are from the rest of the pack. I was able to pick off two or three women early on and maintain that spread between us throughout (making sure to smile and encourage them when I passed by), but I could also see that there was no way I’d catch up to the four women who were ahead of me.

By mile 4, I came to realize I’d finish fifth woman overall for the second year, but I was so happy for Kristin because she looked like she was having a great race. She shouted words of encouragement to me and I to her each time we passed each other. At one point, I yelled to her that she was second hoping that would get her going and maybe into first, but the woman in front had a three-minute lead on her. She still moved up to second from third overall in 2008 and improved her time by about three minutes.  As for me, my run time was 44:59 compared with 46:01 last year. Just under 45 minutes still feels a lot better than just over 46, though!

I finished the race in 2:13:10, a full five minutes faster than last year. Like last year, I was the fifth woman overall and first in my division. Interestingly, the second-place winner was a full 10 minutes behind me and the third-place winner was 10 minutes behind her.